Only Fools fool in April
by SpecialDevil62
Summary: Luffy has been pranking the entire crew all morning. So, they come up with a plan to get him back. But, what happens when perhaps the prank is just a little too harsh? Luffy x nakamaship. Set before Enis Lobby. UPDATE: Chapt 8 up!
1. Chapter 1

This story was inspired by a story I read on fanfiction (can't remember the author's name, but once I'll see it I'll put it in here). It's my first chapter and i'll write another one tomorrow, but as of right now i'm too tired. I don't own one piece :)

"Hey, Zoro!"

Zoro opened one of his eyes to see the bright smile on his captain's face. He glared as Luffy giggles bounced off the walls of the men's quarters.

"What do you want, Luffy?" Zoro ground out. That damn kid always found a way to wake up him up during one of his naps. The swordsman's eyebrow rose as Luffy's giggles increased in volume.

"What?" he snapped. Zoro had a high tolerance for the over-energetic captain, but this was beyond ridiculous. Couldn't the boy find someone else to annoy? (ha! That rhymed!)

"April Fool's, Zoro!" Luffy all, but shouted before bounding out of the men's quarters. Zoro's eyes widened as quickly examined himself and the room around him. Finding nothing out of place, the first mate grabbed one of his swords and unsheathed it. He groaned as the reflection in the swords showed him what his trouble-making captain had done. In the sword, a purple-eye shadow wearing, red lipstick bearing, green-headed man stared right back at him.

"Luffy, I. Am. Going. To. Cut. You!"

Luffy smiled mischievously as he waited in the treasury room behind the door. He knew that Nami came in everyday to count the money before lunch. So, in his genius mind, this setting was perfect for his next prank.

'Just in time!' he thought as the unsuspecting navigator walked into the room.

"APRIL FOOLS NAMI!" Luffy screamed as he jumped out behind the girl. Nami screeched and fell over in surprise as Luffy quickly ran from the scene. His maddened giggles echoed down the hallway and quickly drowning that sound out was Sanji's yells of "Nami-swan, are you okay!"

She growled as her panicked heart slowed.

"Damnit, Luffy! That's ten percent increase on your debt!"

Usopp looked up as he heard Nami's scream throughout the Merry. He shuddered at the thought of what consequence Nami would be coming up for Luffy because there was no doubt in his mind that Luffy had something to do with Nami screaming.

'Hmm. I wonder where Luffy has been all day? Zoro was looking for him earlier.'

The sniper thought about where Luffy might be for a moment before turning back to his tinkering. The object in his hand was a thin, gun powdered filled ball that was supposed to be ten times the firepower than his usual choice of projectiles. It was something that he had been working on for a few days. Usopp handled the object carefully in his hands, examining it one last time before testing it out. The material was the same and the ball looked the same, but something about it was different. The sniper shrugged his shoulders before moving in to tighten a loose seam.

With a final touch, Usopp proudly took a stance with his slingshot in one hand aiming for the metal target at the other side of the room. He was about to shoot before he heard ghostly giggles coming from somewhere. It sounded strangely like his captain. Usopp took it as Luffy playing with Chopper before shooting his new bullet to the target.

He expected a big bang, at most. What Usopp didn't expect, though, was a cloud of blue powder to completely cover the sniper head to toe. Luffy's giggles became more apparent as Usopp zeroed his eyes in on his captain.

"April fools, Usopp! You look like a smurf!" Luffy shouted. Usopp ground his teeth together and aimed for the rubber-man, but was only rewarded with another blast of blue powder to the face. Luffy's laughs increased, but he took the opportunity to escape before Usopp could find his actual bullets.

Sanji had not looked at the calendar all morning. Otherwise he would have immediately suspected Luffy to begin with. But, as luck would have it (Deny it all you want, but Luffy is surrounded by absurd amounts of luck), Luffy came bounding in the kitchen begging Sanji for meat. Sanji was tired from having been stuck with watch all night (Nami-swan did ask so nicely for him to cover her shift because she could not forgo her beauty sleep. And, who was he to deny such a beautiful specimen?) and to top it all off the cook had been missing his cigarettes all morning. The blond hair cook could have sword he placed them on the table just after his watch was over. But, he turned to put coffee on the pot and the cigarettes had disappeared. No one else smoked on the ship and Sanji was sure the stupid marimo-head was still asleep at that time, so he had no accusations: just pure frustration at the fact the cook lost his cigarettes and they wouldn't be docking until later that evening.

Anyways, Luffy came into the galley begging for meat and distracted the tired and nicotine-craving cook enough for the rubberman to quietly extend his arms and place a special carton of cigarettes by the sink. The chef quickly became irritated with Luffy's begging and kicked him in the face before turning around to wash the vegetables for lunch. Though, a white box on the counter caught his eye.

'That's where those shitty things went to!' Sanji thought. He was too tired to notice Luffy watching him pull out the first cigarette out of the box. He was too nicotine-lacked to notice the slightly different taste of the white stick. What Sanji did notice was the way the 'cigarette' suddenly spurted a short, but bright flame before bursting into glitter all over the blond as he lit the stick.

"Woo! Sanji! That turned out much better than I thought it would!" Luffy cackled on the floor. He barely dodged a flying kick as it came crashing down on the floor. The captain quickly left the galley shouting an "April Fools!" to the cook.

Zoro walked in to see the cook covered in pink glitter. Sanji looked up to see Zoro wearing interesting shades of make up. Electricity sparked in the air as both males glared heatedly at each other. Never mind who was to blame for their current situations, it was the sheer fact that they had someone to take their frustrations out on that made them so antsy for a fight.

"Nice face marimo. Always thought red brought out the green in your hair."

Zoro growled placing a hand on one of his swords. "Let's see, perfect hair. Pink apron. And, glitter? Are you sure your stupid fawning over girls isn't a cover for something else?"

Suddenly a kick was blocked by three swords as the two males battled for dominance.

"Hey Chopper, I've got something I want you to try!"

The reindeer looked up as Luffy came in the infirmary with a fluffy white substance on a stick.

"What is it, Luffy?"

"It's cotton-candy! Try some!"

Chopper didn't hesitate to put the fluffy substance in his mouth. He expected it to melt in his mouth leaving a sweet, sugary taste behind, but instead all he got was a nasty flavor of regular cotton. Chopper quickly spit out the offending matter and glared at his laughing captain.

"What? That's regular cotton, Luffy!"

"April Fool's, Chopper!" Luffy laughed while heading off to find Robin. The small zoan fumed for a second before trying to come up with an idea to fool Usopp and possibly Zoro.

Robin was blissfully enjoying the weather on the Merry Go when Luffy came bounding her way. She knew that eventually the captain would find her. Despite the rest of the crewmates lack of forethought, Robin knew that this day was coming and had a pretty good idea that the captain might try and prank them. It seemed like his thing to do. And, sure enough, throughout the morning screams were heard and Luffy's laughter seemed to be nonstop. Robin couldn't hide the small smile that graced her face as Zoro, wearing some of Nami's make up, came up to her for help in removing it.

So, when the captain came bounding up to her with a happy smile and mischief-free eyes, Robin knew that Luffy knew that she knew what day it was and would not be fooled. Instead of coming up with an elaborate plan to prank her, the rubberman simply smiled and waved before running away to go to something else. Robin merely smiled.

"Oh Robin-shwan! You look so beautiful as that smile of yours shines into my very soul!"

The archaeologist turned her head to see Sanji coming walking up to her with a fancy glass holding some drink. She guessed it to be tropical judging by the flamboyant color. With a small thank-you, Robin took the glass from a gushing cook before examining him close for a moment. Her smile turned slightly mischievous as she put an innocent tone in her voice.

"Oh, Cook-san?"

"Yes, my sweet?"

"Is that glitter in your hair?"

Robin couldn't hide the small laugh that escaped as the chef quickly backed away while cursing Luffy under his breath.

Lunchtime had passed and after a few punches (Nami), kicks (Sanji), and yellings (everyone save for Robin), Luffy was punished for his earlier pranks. But, that wasn't enough for the crew that Luffy had terrorized all morning. They wanted payback to their overly energetic captain. The opportunity came as the Merry Go docked in at a small island meant for resupplying. Luffy, as expected, tried to explore the island almost immediately after docking, but Nami grabbed him by the back of his shirt and promptly gave him a list of things to buy.

"Now, Luffy listen to me and repeat back. Buy everything on the list. Do not come back until everything is bought. Do not spend the money on anything else other than what the list dictates. Now repeat."

"Buy stuff on list. Don't come back until everything is bought. Money is only spent on the stuff on the list! Got it Nami! Now, can I go?"

Nami sighed as Luffy flew off the ship at her say-so. She watched as her captain ran out of sight and blended into the town before smiling sadistically.

"I heard you have a plan Usopp, now tell me what it is so that we can all get back Luffy." Nami turned to look at the rest of the crew to hear what Usopp was going to say. But, she frowned as she noticed that neither Zoro nor Robin was there.

"Sanji-kun, where is Zoro and Robin-chan?" The chef quickly noodled himself to Nami's side and exclaimed in a cheerful shout that Zoro went off to a bar and Robin followed to make sure he didn't get lost.

Nami sighed, but thought that Zoro better be left out anyways. He seemed like the type not to prank Luffy anyways.

"And that's when we say April Fools! Luffy would be so surprised and we would get him back! Is that not the best plan ever crafted by The Great Captain Usopp?"

Nami blinked as she stared at the sniper. Usopp was looking at her expectantly while Chopper gushed over how great his plan was to fool Luffy. Sanji remarked that it was a little harsh, but even the gullible captain wouldn't fall for it.

"Uh, could you go over that one more time Usopp? I wasn't paying attention."

Usopp's confident stance fell dejectedly as Nami asked him to repeat it. But, never missing an opportunity to talk, Usopp gladly re-explained the tactics behind his "Let's all get Luffy back for pranking us" plan.

"I'm not so sure that the shitty sniper's idea is a good one. I don't think even the dumbass captain would fall for it." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. Luffy was due back any moment and each member was covered in a rather convincing form of fake-blood concocted by Usopp. Usopp was all for the plan considering it was his idea and Chopper was willing to follow Usopp in whatever he did. Nami thought it was the perfect payback for their prankster captain. Sanji was the only one having second thoughts. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that this prank would wind up bad. But, whatever coherent thought Sanji contained quickly evaded the man's mind as Nami's statement was heard.

"Oh, Sanji-kun. Don't you want to get Luffy back for messing with your cigarettes and for scaring me?"

"Mellorine! I would gladly payback any man who thought they could scare you! You are a damsel in distress and I am your willing prince coming to save you!"

Nami smiled slyly as Sanji dashed a little more blood on his face for emphasis. Each member looked like they had been thoroughly slaughtered, minus the cuts and bruises. All the they were going to do is pretend to be dead for a minute or two, just long enough for Luffy to fall for it, and then all jump up and shout "April Fools!" They would get back Luffy ten-fold for what he did to them.

"Oh! Guys! Here he comes!" Chopped whispered. Each crewmember except for Robin and Zoro who were still at the bar, laid in position on the ground taking on different "dead-looking expressions".

"Oh! I can't wait for Nami to see that I didn't spend any money on anything but the list! I wonder if she can get Sanji to cook me something delicious in return I bet she could! Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he excitedly walked the dock to his ship. Nami winked at Chopper who looked nervous before shutting both her eyes and pretending to be dead.

"Speaking of meat, I wonder what Sanji's cooking for dinner! I bet it's delicious just like everything else he cooks! Thinking of all this food is making me hung- wha?" Luffy stopped dead in his tracks as he boarded the ship. The first thing he saw were the bloodied bodies of each of his crewmates lying on the front deck in discarded positions. Broken boxes and cracked glass (something Usopp told Nami would make it more convincing to Luffy) were strewn across the deck. Luffy dropped the bags he carried and ran to Nami, looking at the blood that covered her body. Nami didn't flinch or open her eyes as Luffy gently peeled the hair from her face.

"Nami? Oh God, Nami? Say something!"

With panicked eyes Luffy searched the area to find Chopper lying face down on the floor, Sanji on his side to the left, and Usopp strewn over some boxes. Each was covered in blood. Despair grasped Luffy as tears sprung into his eyes.

"No," he choked as he set Nami down. The rubberman fell to his knees and leaned over dragging his nails across the wood. The navigator opened her eyes seeing Luffy's back to her and glanced at Usopp. She found that his eyes met hers for a moment. Both eyes held a worried look and a frown as their captain drug his fingers repeatedly across the wood. They honestly hadn't thought that Luffy would fall so hard for their prank. Nami narrowed her eyes at the captain remembering his earlier pranks. She motioned one more minute to Usopp before closing her eyes again.

"They're gone. They're all gone! Where was I? Oh God, where was I?" Luffy whispered to himself. Tears flooded his vision as he slammed his head into the wood floor, putting a head indent into the floor. A few more sobs racked through his body as he slammed his fist through the wood.

"NO!" he screamed. It felt that even the heavens could feel his despair.

Zoro suddenly sat straight up in the bar. He looked towards the door and frowned. Robin, who was quietly sitting next to him reading a book tilted her head in confusion.

"Is something wrong Swordsman-san?"

Zoro's frown deepened as he stood up without warning and stormed out the bar. Robin quickly followed in suit, leaving money to pay for the drinks on the counter.

"Something's wrong with Luffy. I can feel it."

Robin blinked at the statement, but didn't disregard it. The relationship the captain had with his first mate was something that no one quite understood besides the two. It was a friendship so deep that Luffy didn't even need to voice his questions before Zoro answered them. It was even more apparent on the battlefield when you noticed how Zoro always kept Luffy in his line of sight, or how Luffy never let a stray enemy get to close to Zoro.

They were about halfway back to the ship when they heard the desperate scream of someone in absolute pain. The creature that gave the call seemed to be in so much despair that even Robin had to flinch. She didn't need to look at Zoro to know that the man first thought of Luffy. They both picked up their pace to a sprint towards the ship. Each hoping that Luffy was okay.

All four of them slowly sat up as they heard the desperate scream of their captain. Sanji knew they had gone too far once the captain released a sound like that. It was enough to make a murderer cry. The chef looked at the other two before focusing on Nami who had made her way to Luffy. He was still hunched over himself, sobbing into the wooden floor. She approached him cautiously with a worried look. Nami placed one hand on his shoulder, before Luffy quickly grabbed her wrist and flipped her in front of him. The movement was so fast that Sanji hadn't even seen Luffy stand up.

Wide, pained, tear-filled eyes glared directly into Nami's soul, she felt before turning into a look of surprise. The navigator saw all sorts of emotions fly through the teenager's eyes as he finally settled on confusion. He quickly released her wrist and looked at Chopper, Sanji, and Usopp, who all stood up from their places.

"Oh, God! You guys aren't dead! I thought you were dead! What happened! Where's Zoro? Where's Robin? What happened? Are you ok?"

Luffy took Nami into tight bear hug while asking all the questions. Tears flooded into her shirt as Nami took a moment to process the information. Though, she didn't have time to answer before Luffy pushed her back, still holding onto her arms, to examine her injuries. She saw the confusion set in his eyes when he saw none.

"Nami? Where are you bleeding from?" Luffy asked as he looked at the rest of the crew of the ship. His panicked eyes examined each member's bodies before noticing that none had an injury he could see. Luffy could feel that something was off. And, judging by the look on their faces, he was right. But, what emotion were they showing? Was that regret? Why would his crew look regretful?

Luffy took in a shuddered breath as his tears were starting his subside. His crew wasn't so injured. That's good, he decided. It was better than death. Though, he still wondered who did this to his crew. Black fury engulfed the teen as he thought about who the hell decided they would mess with his nakama.

"Hold on Luffy, don't think about killing anyone yet, " Nami quickly stated. She could see the wild fury in his eyes and she didn't need to be Zoro to know that he was thinking a bout who had 'hurt his crew'. Suddenly Nami thought about what Sanji said earlier about the prank being too harsh. Maybe this was a bit far.

"Luffy," Nami said. "It was just a prank to get back to you for earlier."

Luffy turned sharply to Nami. He tilted his head in confusion as his eyes turned blank for a moment. Sanji, Chopper, and Usopp stared while each hoped that Luffy would walk away from this with a smile. Though, each felt like that wouldn't happen. From the nail marks on the floor where Luffy dragged him fingers to the hole in the wood from where he punched his fist through, and not even counting the scream that none of them every wanted to hear again, you could tell that Luffy hadn't thought once that it was an April Fool's joke.

"What?" Luffy asked. Nami tried to smile and laugh it off, but the atmosphere made it seem almost sadistic. Especially with the head indent in the floor mocking her.

"It was a prank. Haha? We all pretended to be dead to get back to you for earlier."

Luffy dropped his hold on Nami before back away to face them all. He didn't try to hide the betrayed look on his face while he examined the guilty expressions on each crewmember. Luffy pulled his hat over his eyes to shade whatever emotion he was feeling. A small smile escaped his mouth and was followed by a weak laugh. Though, none of them felt the relief that usually came with his laughter.

"I'm grateful you guys are alive." He said. Nami felt the full force of guilt eating away at her. She heard Chopper's sniffles behind her in what were sure to be tears of guilt as well. A small voice in her mind told her that Luffy would for sure kick them off the crew, but her rational spirit told her that Luffy wouldn't do that especially when no real harm was meant by it. Would he?

Luffy lifted his head and bore his gaze into each member of his crew that was present on the deck. Sanji, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper felt the full force of guilt as each saw the one emotion that stuck out in his eyes: betrayal. Without a second glance or word, Luffy walked off to the men's quarters slamming the door behind him.

"What the hell is this?" Zoro yelled as he and Robin stepped onto the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell is this?" Zoro yelled as he and Robin stepped onto the ship. The swordsman looked at the blood on the floor and on their shipmates, to the broken boxes and glass on the floor, back to the guilty and somber expressions on their shipmates faces. Chopper, especially, looked like he was on the verge of tears.

None of the four crewmates answered Zoro. Each didn't want to explain to the over-protective, temperamental swordsman that they played a cruel prank on their gullible captain.

"It's seems like a prank, Swordsman-san" Robin offered. She immediately recognized the fake blood she saw the sniper put together earlier and put two and two together. Luffy must have thought they were seriously injured, if that was the prank.

"Where the hell did all this blood come from? Where is Luffy?" Zoro asked. He glanced worriedly around to search for his captain.

"It was a prank," Nami explained. She started to trace her tattoo nervously as Zoro's eyes fixed on her. She saw his eyes narrow as she started to explain what happened.

"We were getting back at Luffy for his stupid pranks earlier," Usopp offered.

"Yeah, he fed me normal cotton telling me it was cotton candy!"

"So, what. You decided to throw a blood party or something? Where the hell is Luffy?" Zoro asked. He didn't miss the guilty looks exchanged between the four pranksters.

"We pretended to be dead and Luffy, kinda freaked out a little bit," Usopp said hurriedly. The sniper nervously prodded two of his fingers together gauging Zoro's reaction. The green-headed man widened his eyes slightly before settling for a dark glare.

"You did WHAT?" Zoro shouted. His voice made each member flinch as the anger could be felt throughout the ship. A dark aura surrounded him and Usopp was pretty sure if Luffy didn't kick them off the ship for their cruel prank, then Zoro would definitely cut them up.

"We didn't think he would take it that seriously!" Nami argued. Sanji stayed silent, choosing to glare at the floor rather than glare at Zoro. He knew when to stay quiet and judging by the waves of anger rolling of that shitty swordsman, he guessed now was one of those times.

"Luffy takes that shit very seriously! What did you expect him to do when he walked on the ship thinking all of you were dead, HUH? Did you expect him to laugh it off and go searching for a different crew?" Zoro growled.

"It was a prank, Zoro! It was to get back at Luffy for pranking us earlier!" Nami argued. Sure, she felt guilty at causing her captain to cry and breakdown but none of them had meant for the prank to be so cruel.

"No. That wasn't a prank," Zoro said. He walked to the nail marks clawed into the floor by Luffy and pressed his fingers into the jagged marks. "A prank was something Luffy did: harmless, fun, and not meant to be cruel. He would have never made any of you feel what you just made him feel now. Not even on accident. "

Chopper burst into uncontrollable sobs as Zoro's words were said. He hadn't meant to make Luffy so upset! The reindeer just wanted to fit in with Usopp, Nami, and Sanji and went along with the plan!

Each member looked at the wailing doctor for a moment. None of them knew what to do to make it up to their captain. They remembered his pain-filled scream at the thought of his four family members dying and his betrayed eyes at finding out it was just a cruel prank.

'Come to think of it,' Sanji thought. 'Luffy considers us nothing less than family. What have we done?'

"Someone clean up this fake blood before Luffy comes back out and sees it." Zoro said. He stalked off from the crew to go to the men's quarters to find their captain.

Zoro climbed down the ladder to find Luffy lying on his hammock with the straw hat placed over his face. It was dark in the room, save for the one light that shone on the wall, but Zoro saw the tear tracks on his face. The swordsman flinched as he thought of the despair Luffy must have felt earlier. Just thinking of any of their crewmembers dying made the swordsman want to block the thought from his head. The fact that Luffy thought that their deaths were real for even just a minute….well, he was sure it wasn't good.

Zoro stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Luffy was always loud and obnoxious. But, the captain had a habit of keeping unhappy emotions locked in. The swordsman knew that when Luffy wanted to talk, he'd do it on his terms. All Zoro needed to do was make sure to let the kid know he was there for him.

Zoro walked to the couch and pushed it against the wall until it was right next to the rubberman. He sat down on the couch and waited. The physical distance was less than a head apart from each other. Far enough to let Luffy know that he wasn't pushing him to say anything, but close to enough to take comfort in each other's presence. Zoro didn't know how long it took for Luffy to say something.

"Want to hear a story Zoro?"

It was a simple question asked in a whisper of a voice. But, the sound rang against the room that was suffocating in silence. Zoro blinked a few times before facing his captain.

"What kind of story?"

"It's a story about an island we went to."

The swordsman nodded for Luffy to continue. Though Luffy's eyes were covered by his hat, the captain still felt Zoro's go-ahead and proceeded to tell him the story.

"We all went to an island that was supposed to be a resort. We saw the flyer and I said we should all go there."

Zoro briefly remembered the island they went to about a month ago. The entire crew, sans Luffy, only remembered Luffy and nothing else about the time they spent there. Luffy had assured them they had fun. The crew was too tired and foggy to question him further, so they accepted what Luffy said. It wasn't until a day later after everyone was rested did they ask about it. Luffy didn't mention anything else other than that it was a "mystery island" and that they had fun. He would usually change the subject after that or do something to distract them. Zoro had questioned why Luffy was avoiding the topic at the time, but after a week or so, everyone else forgot about not remembering anything (Irony?) and Zoro's questions stopped seeing that he wasn't going to get any answers.

"At first, the island seemed like a perfect paradise. There were lights, and people, and games, and tall buildings covered in a shiny gold. It was so pretty! Robin had mentioned something about there not being flowers like it showed on the flyer, but I ignored it thinking it was nothing. I was so stupid to ignore that. we met the Baron who said we must participate in a few games before we get settled. Nami wanted to relax, but I was too stubborn and said we'd play. The first game we caught a fish and that was so fun! They tried to cheat us out, but in the end we won anyways."

Zoro felt his entire body go rigid as foggy memories suddenly became clearer. It was weird, but with every word the captain said, it was like unlocking a treasure chest of moments hidden in his mind. With the memories though, came the sense of foreboding. It was like his mind was remembering something that Zoro's conscience couldn't grasp at.

"We played a few games. It was us against the Baron's team. The games were fun, but tension was becoming high between us. You all said things…"

Luffy took a shuddered breath at that one. Zoro saw himself arguing with Sanji and saying something. They all were arguing actually. About what? He couldn't remember.

"It doesn't matter what any of you said. We were missing crew members and we found out the Baron had something to do with it. That was why everyone was angry and said the things you did. It's in the past now," Luffy said, almost as if he was convincing himself.

"Chopper and Usopp had gone missing and everyone went their separate ways to try and find them. I tried to keep you together. I didn't want to be alone again. Eventually everyone was gone. The Baron took all of you."

Zoro listened intsenly as Luffy described what happened. He felt the raw pain that the boy had been keeping inside of him. With each word came a new revelation. He remembered being captured and something happened with Luffy. Something bad happened to Luffy. Fists clenched as he waited for his captain to continue.

"I tried to fight the Baron myself. He shot these arrows that followed the target. For a while, I was able to evade them. I wasn't able to attack though. I tried. I tried so hard."

Luffy stopped for a moment. He didn't want to say the rest. Remembering it was too painful. But, something in his gut told him Zoro would gladly share his pain and would provide him the comfort he desperately needed.

"The Baron's arrows got me. He was feeding you, all of you to this giant man-eating flower and I was trying to get you from it's grasps, but those fucking arrows. He pinned my arm, my leg, then my other arm, then my other leg to this rock. I wasn't able to move my body, but I stretched my neck to try and save you. Any of you, but he got my neck too. All of you disappeared into this flower as I laid helpless and weak against a rock. Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Robin, Zoro…all of you were dissolved into this flower leaving me alone. It was indescribable, the pain. He asked me if I wanted to live knowing that I had no crew or if I wanted to die with them."

Zoro looked at his captain lying in a hammock. His eyes widened as he heard the story, or memory coming from Luffy. He couldn't believe that Luffy had been through all of this and none of them knew! Luffy, who depended on his crew, who treated them with the highest respect, and who thought each one of them as part of his family, had been pinned down and forced to watch each one of them be fed to a flower. Zoro's chest clenched as he thought of what would happen if he saw any of them die like that. He didn't even want to think about that possibility.

Zoro's fist clenched as he heard what the Baron asked Luffy. Luffy didn't need to say what his answer was, Zoro already knew and it hurt him deeply to know that Luffy wasn't willing to live without them.

"As the Baron was going to kill me, some mole guy pulled me under the ground into this multi-cave thing. He and some kids and another guy convinced me that you guys were still alive inside that flower so I went back up to defeat the Baron. It was a little hard because even if I did hit the Baron, the punch went through him and he patched himself up again. We figured out that the flower was what we needed to hit. That other guy, a father, shot at the flower and the guy blew up. That's when you guys, all of you, got up and walked over this hill. Everyone one of you was okay. I was so happy, so glad to find all of you alive. I wasn't alone anymore."

Luffy ended his story and a silence took control of the men's quarter's once again. Zoro simmered in a silence as he went over what his captain went through.

"Luffy, you're a fucking idiot," Zoro finally said. Luffy turned his head towards his firstmate. He didn't say anything, just expected Zoro to continue.

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Zoro continued. He stood up and glared at his captain. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The swordsman started to pace around the room while glaring at the straw-hat wearing teenager on the hammock.

"There was no point in reliving the past. It's gone. It's behind us and I didn't need to put all that pain on all of you as well," Luffy answered.

"Bull-shit!" Zoro roared. "It's haunting you now! If you thought you didn't want to burden us then why did you chose now to tell me. Four weeks after it happened?"

Luffy stared blankly at the swordsman. It took a second for Zoro to remember why he was down here in the first place and why Luffy was so upset.

'Oh,' Zoro thought. 'Their prank reminded him of what happened.'

Taking a calming breath he sat down next to Luffy and pulled him off the hammock and into his embrace. Luffy gladly accepted the hug and dug his head into Zoro's shoulders for a moment. 

"No one should have to go through that pain alone Luffy. Not even the Pirate King," Zoro stated. They stayed in the hug for a moment, just enjoying the comfort each provided for each other. 

"Thanks, Zoro," Luffy said. He didn't need to say what he was thanking the swordsman for. The firstmate already knew.


	3. AN News on Updates and Thank you's!

Okay, sorry about not updating these past two days, but I got really busy with school, track, work, and German club.  
>I promise I'll put up two chapters tomorrow to compensate. Expect the chapter update sometime between 6:00 pm to 11:00pm U.S. Central time. Thank you to all of you who have supported and read my story so far! I didn't expect this many people to even look at it nor so many (8's a big number to me :P ) to review it. As always, I would like it if you guys could review so that I can improve my writing and make it better to read for anyone. Whether it's insults or praise, I'll take it :)<p>Thank you to:<p>

Straw-hat Monkey D. Luffy: for giving me virtual cookies :)

Anime lover 3593: for the constructive critisism :D (I probably spelled that wrong, my bad)

Em: for the short and sweet comment, just like your name

Hascuko: for your wonderfully worded praise!

Neko11: for the compliment on my titling skillz. And, the winky face ;)

Awsme Grl : for the serious epic review. I'll expect more from you. Those thoughts are the kinds of thoughts i'm looking for and what inpired me to write a chapter :D

Ultra One Piece Fan: for being the Ultra One Piece fan. I'll obey you forever. Also, your review. I'll update soon I promise!

Ghost of the moonlight : for setting the precendent for all the review candidates!

Thank you so much for reviewing, you've no idea how much I appreciate it! 


	4. Chapter 3

Okay, it took forever to get the update because the site wouldn't let me log on until now! It was really frustrating : ( I emailed them about five times. . It kept saying Error.1 messages and giving me an email. It was really frustrating. Thank you for being so understanding (I'm going to pretend that you all were understanding because it will make me feel better about updating late ) about me not updating these past two days. Thanks for the awesome reviews and I don't own one piece, but I do own a shirt! :D

R and R please :D

Usopp scrubbed at the wooden floor of the Merry. The fake blood was now blending in with the bubbles causing the once white bubbles to turn pink. He faintly heard Chopper scrubbing behind him and Sanji and Nami were picking up the broken pieces of wood and glass. They were all working on eradicating any evidence of their prank. Usopp didn't want to think what would happen if Zoro saw even a speck of blood. He was pretty sure the swordsman wouldn't be his usual lax self about this particular chore. 

Usopp casually looked up towards the men's quarters. Their firstmate was still with their captain doing God knows what. Usopp hoped that it didn't have anything to do with the consequences of this stupid prank.

A sound of a door opening and shutting caused everyone to look sharply towards the door of the men's quarters. Zoro had walked out with a small smile on his face and a far away look in his eyes…which promptly disappeared once had saw the pranking crewmembers staring at him. The swordsman didn't glare as he walked the thirty feet or so to crime scene, as expected. Zoro didn't start yelling once he stopped in front of the four crewmembers. The firstmate didn't threaten to kill any of them as he observed their handiwork. All four members had stopped doing what they were doing, afraid that if they moved an inch their firstmate might chop off all their ligaments. They didn't breath, they didn't blink, they just waited for their green-head (marimo-head, to Sanji) to say or do something other than stand still and look at the nail dents left in the floor by Luffy.

"Our crew is like a family," Zoro finally stated. It was a simple wording and phrase, very Zoro-like. It was also very unexpected. Nami looked at Chopper, who looked at Usopp, who looked at Sanji, who just shrugged and started to pick up the pieces of boxes again. Each held a questioning, somewhat wary look in their eyes as Zoro continued to talk.

"We each are willing to sacrafice our lives for the sake of a crewmember. Every single one of us wouldn't hesitate to fight a dangerous battle alongside another crewmember. And I know for sure that each of us hold the willpower it takes to almost kill themselves trying to save another crewmember." Zoro bent down to the floor to touch the indents from Luffy's fingers. Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Usopp each waited in an uneasy silence as the swordsman examined the marks. They knew what he was saying was true. Despite Usopp's fear of, well, everything, he knew that if it meant saving his crewmembers he would put his head on the chopping block. He might be crying and shaking while doing so, but he'd still do it.

"So, our crew is like a family in how much we are willing to sacrafice to save their lives. And, in how we live with each other. Being out on the sea everyday, being chased by marines, threatened by Sea Kings and not to mention this crazy ass weather we experience can bring a group of people closer. But, " Zoro looked up and held each of their gazes. Even Sanji stopped picking up glass feeling the conviction beginning to rise in the swordsman's voice. "The difference between a real family and our family is that brothers would never turn their sword on each other, no matter how much one might have wronged the other."

All of their eyes widened at what Zoro said. It was surprising to hear it said outloud and they weren't quite sure what to do with the words thrown into the wind like that. Zoro stood up and held an electrifying gaze. It didn't hold anger, or even accusation, but it held a promise.

"You guys understand that Luffy will forgive you for this. He's like that. It doesn't matter the crime that you do against him, he'll put it behind him and love you unconditionally. But know this: if any of you ever do something to hurt him intentionally, like this, I will not forgive you. And, if any of you so chose to turn your weapon against the captain, I will let you know now that before you even touch him, I will kill you."

The words hung in the air for a moment as each member digested what he said. Zoro didn't stay around for their reactions though, instead he went to the kitchen to most likely drink sake and try to catch up on the drinking missed at the bar.

Sanji broke the tense silence that the crew sat in. With practiced movements he grabbed a cigarette from his left pocket and lit it with the lighter. The noise, as little as it was, put the others in motion. Nami chewed on her lip nervously and started to pick up the rest of the glass, there wasn't much more. Usopp scrubbed more furiously than before at the floor. He glared at the floor, willing for the soap to completely obliterate any of that fake blood.

Chopper looked between Sanji, Usopp, and finally settled on Nami. He sniffled a little and grabbed a rag to scrub the floor wish.

"Well, that was blunt." Sanji said. He took a drag of his cigarette and looked at the pile of broken, wooden, box pieces that would soon be thrown overboard. The cook's foot twitched as he thought of what that stupid marimo-head said.

"You don't think he'd actually," Usopp gulped. "Kill, us do you?" The sniper looked up from his furious scrubbing to Sanji.

"If we were to ever try and kill Luffy?" Sanji asked. He looked Usopp right in the eye. "There is no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't hesitate to gut anyone who tried to harm our captain. We all understand how close the shitty swordsman and Luffy are, but what I don't think we understand is how deep the connection goes."

Nami stood up as she threw the last piece of glass in the trash pile. Sanji, without asking, walked over to the pile and reared his leg back. With a powerful swoop, his foot came forward and kicked the trash overboard and into the vast sea.

Chopper, at the time, grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on the bubbles. The pinkish suds washed away leaving a clean and blood free zone. Save for the marks, you couldn't even tell that there had ever been a prank in the first place.

"Well, we all know what we have to do now, don't we?" Nami asked. Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper looked at the navigator. She turned towards the setting sun and watched as a few clouds went by, no doubt concluding what the weather would be like tomorrow.

"Each of us are going to have to apologize to him. Luffy will forgive us for sure, that much is true, "she started. "But, it doesn't mean that our forgiving captain doesn't deserve much less than an apology." Nami turned and glared at Usopp, who was currently thinking of ways to avoid confronting their captain. The sniper was never too good with confrontation.

"I will personally hunt down and punish anyone who doesn't apologize to Luffy." Usopp gulped while Sanji gushed about how an angry Nami looked so beautiful when she was glaring. The sniper didn't really know how to apologize to Luffy and he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it to the captain. The apology would bring back those dark eyes which stared at each one of them in betrayal and the memory of that scream. Usopp shuddered. That scream would haunt him in his nightmares.

Uncosciously, each prankster looked at the men's quarters door, hoping that Luffy would actually be okay.

Luffy opened his eyes. He had pretended to be asleep when Usopp, Chopper,, Sanji, and Zoro came in for the night. He felt the stares of each crewmember as they passed his hammock and settled in to bed. Luffy sighed. Sleep was not going to be a comfort tonight when everytime he closed his eyes he saw the blood on four of his closest friends. Even though it was fake, the feeling of despair was all to real to the strawhat-wearing boy. It brought back unwanted memories from the Baron's island and Luffy was sure that he would have nightmares to come.

With quiet footsteps, Luffy jumped down from his hammock and walked out the men's quarters. He reached the front of the deck, where the Merry Go's headpiece sat down on his special seat. Luffy made a point to inhale the aroma of seasalt and water, which never failed to somewhat still his troubles.

"Can't sleep Sencho-san?" a voice asked. Luffy turned to look at their newest member, Robin. She had a book, closed and with a bookmark, in her hand. The archealogist walked to the figure head which the captain sat at.

"Yeah, got a lot on my mind," Luffy said simply. It was the truth.

"Today was very interesting," Robin responded. She placed her elbows on the railing next to the figurehead and watched the sea waves with her captain.

"Yeah, I pulled some great pranks today," Luffy said. A huge smile broke across his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I made some of Usopp's exploding balls that I saw him working on and put blue exploding powder in them! He went to go test them out and he got covered in blue! He looked like a walking blueberry!"

Robin smiled at Luffy's obvious attempts to make it seem like he wasn't bothered by today's events. "You know Sencho-san," Robin said. "Everyone is asleep. You do not need to smile for anyone."

Luffy's smile fell off. He pulled his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs. The boy, still wearing his straw hat, turned his head towards Robin. With a small smirk he said, "Yeah, but it was worth a try."

The older woman acknowledged his response with a nod. She looked up at the sky, which held a few dark clouds that Nami was muttering about earlier. Luffy and her watched the waves roll in the night in silence for a minute. The archaeoligist waited for Luffy to make the first move. She understood that when Luffy wanted to talk about what was on his mind, then he would.

They stay in silence for ten minutes before the rubberman said something to break the silence.

"I'm not mad at them, ya know, " Luffy said. Robin tilted her head towards Luffy. Blue eyes met obsidian eyes. They didn't break the gaze until Luffy looked back at the ocean.

"I wish they hadn't done that though," Luffy lamented. "I know they didn't mean for the prank to be so bad , which is why I forgive them." Luffy sighed.

"But, I can't help but feel like they should know better, ya know? When you live your life like us, spitting in death's face, life should be treated like a refreshing gust of wind on a really hot day: you should savor it while it lasts because you never know when it's going to be gone."

Robin raised her eyebrows at Luffy's comparison. She understood what he meant completely. When you're a pirate, especially one who has such a high bounty, you live in the face of danger. You never know when someone is going to die on the sea. Death is so common on the ocean and for pirates that it's considered disrespectful to joke about it. She smiled at her captain and silently gave him respect. Her captain, despite being so young, already was wiser than most men older than him. He acted like an immature child most of the time, but Robin knew that Luffy was more intelligent than he let on.

"What will you do about tomorrow?"

The question was left standing in the air for a moment as the rubber captain contemplated in silence. Thoughts swirled around his head as he thought about the guilty faces of his crew mates. He didn't want them to feel guilty! Luffy honestly hadn't meant for them to feel so bad about the prank, but at the time he was so upset with them for pretending to be dead that he hadn't thought about what they might feel afterwards.

Luffy sighed in frustration. Zoro would be hitting him on the head right now for these thoughts. The firstmate would say that they deserved to feel guilty because what they did wasn't right. Luffy really just wanted to put it all in the past.

"Tomorrow's a new day, I guess," Luffy finally said after a moment of silence. "I'll treat it like every other day." With that thought, Luffy jumped off the figurehead and walked towards the men's quarters. Judging by the placement of the moon, the teenager would only be getting a few hours of sleep.

"Sleep well, Sencho-san."

"Night Robin, " Luffy called.


	5. Chapter 4

Once again, I had troubles logging in and putting up a new chapter. I swear this website does not want me to be a responsible person! Here it is though, a new chapter! Read. Review. Give me feedback please!

The next morning Nami woke up with a frown on her face. She could feel the electricity in the air, despite it being miles away. The brown-eyed navigator quickly threw on a plain black shirt and white shorts and walked up the stairs and to the deck. A gust of wind caressed her cheek whispering about a storm to come. The wind spoke a language that only the navigator understood. Nami looked up at the few clouds in the sky. She was worried. The way the wind was blowing and how dark the clouds were was proving that there was going to be a big storm coming up. She guessed it would hit them sometime tomorrow because the temperature was stably bringing them the warmth from the Summer island coming up. They wouldn't reach the island until late night, so Nami hoped that the storm wouldn't attack them beforehand.

"Wow, what beautiful weather," Chopper remarked. Sanji had just called for breakfast and the crew was trudging in, save for Luffy sprang through the doors like it was a normal day. The four guilt crewmembers looked at each other as their captain sat down talking excitedly about meat. From what they could tell, Luffy was acting normal. Well, normal for Luffy. Zoro had said that Luffy would forgive them for their cruel prank, but they were expecting their energetic captain to at least give them a disappointed look or something. But, instead he just acted like it didn't even happen. Put it in the past, Zoro had said that Luffy would want to put it all in the past.

"Don't get too excited Chopper," Nami stated. She walked into the galley and took a seat next to Robin and Usopp. Sanji immediately placed hot meals in front of the two women. He gushed about how stars couldn't compare to their morning beauty. Both Zoro and Usopp rolled their eyes as their meals were thrown to them across the table.

"Why not? The sun is shining, it's warm out, and there's hardly a cloud in the sky," Chopper said. Sanji had given him a plate of food and the reindeer immediately picked up a piece of fruit and chewed. He didn't really question Nami's weather-predicting skills because she was never wrong, but he liked to know the reason behind why she thought bad weather was coming.

"There are a few cirrus clouds scattered across the sky and a cold wind coming in indicating that there will be a cold front heading in. Also, a few dark cumulous clouds are telling me it's going to be a big storm," Nami explained as Sanji walked back to the counters to grab the last plate of food for Luffy. Chopper looked up in awe as the navigator explained to him her reasoning. Human, animal, and even fish anatomy? No problem. Weather? Yeah, the reindeer never understood.

"Now, judging by the distance in the clouds and the stable temperature, the storm should hit sometime early tomorrow. We aren't supposed to be docking at the island until later tonight so hopefully we'll reach a safe place to stay for the night."

Chopper nodded and went back to nibbling his fruit. Sanji had grabbed Luffy's plate and walked to the table, placing it in front of him. Each crewmembers jaw, except for Robin because she doesn't show surprise (Usopp and Luffy have this theory going that she actually just knows everything.), at the sight of their captains plate. Unlike the other men in the crew, the cook actually put effort into the assembly of this plate. Various meats fanned out around the plate and legs of chicken formed a teepee. Random vegetables added color and the spices smelled heavenly to the sniper. Sanji shrugged at the crew's faces and walked back to the counter to smoke. Luffy didn't hesitate to dig in once Sanji walked away. He ate like he normally did, stealing food from the others and shoving abnormal amounts of food in his mouth. He didn't notice, or at least acted like he didn't notice, Sanji's special creation. The rest of the crew went back to eating and talking like normal since their captain obviously wasn't going to say anything about it.

Is he just ignoring Sanji's obvious attempt at saying he was sorry, or did he scarf down his food too fast to notice? Usopp thought worriedly. The idea of his captain giving each prankster a hard time passed through his mind. What if Luffy acting normal was just a way to punish them? To show that he wasn't going to accept any of his apologies? The sniper looked worriedly at his food, suddenly not wanting to eat. The thought was completely irrational, but the marksman couldn't get the scared feeling to leave. What if Luffy found out it was his idea and kicked him off the next island? What would Usopp do?

"Oi, Usopp," Luffy called. The sniper instantly looked up at his captain, who was currently sitting in front of an empty plate. Eager eyes met wary ones as a large smile spread on Luffy's face. "If your not going to eat your food, can I have it?"

"Don't even think about it Luffy!" Sanji called from his spot. "I'll get you seconds if you want some. Usopp, don't even think about leaving this table before your finished with what's on your plate."

The marksman glared at Sanji until the chef, after giving Luffy a larger amount of meat on a plate, turned his eye onto him. The hard gaze that Sanji gave Usopp promised extreme pain if the sniper didn't start eating now. Usopp gulped and shoved a piece of pancake in his mouth. He looked away from Sanji, who was now starting to clean up, back to Luffy, who was shoving impressive amounts of food in his mouth.

Sanji is so lucky, Usopp thought. He has it so easy! If he ever wants to apologize to Luffy, all he has to do is give the kid more food! The sniper looked towards Nami, who was chatting animatedly to Robin about the next island. The navigator could give Luffy money, that he would most likely spend on meat! She also had it so easy!

"Usopp!" Chopper said. Usopp took his gaze off of Nami towards a worried looking reindeer. Choppers eyes were furrowed and he had a frown on his face while examining Usopp.

"What?" Usopp asked. He didn't really like the staring.

"It's not healthy to look as worried as you do. Your face will get stuck like that forever!" Chopper exclaimed. Zoro, Nami, and Sanji all looked at Chopper disbelievingly.

"Chopper! Where in the hell did you hear that?" Nami asked. The reindeer was really gullible at times.

"A villager told me that back in Drum," He replied nervously. Nami sighed as she calmy explained to their doctor that no, Usopp's face would not stay like that and that it was impossible for a person's face to get stuck just because they were feeling a certain emotion for a long time. Chopper nodded with an "Oooh" and proceeded to tell Usopp not to worry.

"Well, I believe I'm going to enjoy this weather while it lasts if Navigator-san was correct about the storm," Robin said. She got up from the table and Nami followed saying something about tanning. Chopper and Usopp also left, Chopper to mix some new medicine and Usopp to avoid talking to Luffy. It was only the swordsman, the chef, and the captain left in the kitchen.

Despite Sanji's cool appearance, he was worrying like crazy in his mind. He knew that Luffy sometimes didn't even look at the food before putting it in his massive expanse of a mouth, but did he not even notice the effort that the chef put into his food? Or did he notice, but just didn't acknowledge it. Sanji even told him he'd get him seconds! Did Luffy really just not forgive them or was he waiting until they were alone to talk to him? What if he was just going to tell Sanji it wasn't enough and that he wasn't accepting his apology. Questions swarmed in the chefs mind and Sanji automatically reached for another cigarette to calm his nerves. He was just about to light it when his captain interrupted him.

"Hey Sanji," Luffy said. The blond chef looked over as the captain stood up and stretched. His uncovered eye met Luffy's gaze. "Thanks for the food! It was really good!"

Luffy's gaze showed that the chef was forgiven. Instantly, all nerves flowed right out of his system and the chef resisted the urge to collapse against the counter. But, the stupid marimo-head was still here and Sanji really didn't want to show that moment in front of him.

"Your welcome Luffy," was all that was said. And, just like that Luffy and Zoro left Sanji in the kitchen and walked out onto the deck. They didn't see Nami or Robin, who were probably on the upperdeck with the grass, nor Chopper or Usopp. It was just them.

Luffy walked to the figurehead and Zoro followed slowly after him. It was silence for a few minutes as each watched the clouds, which were becoming more abundant, move in the sky.

"I thought that dumbass chef was going to have a heart attack there for a minute," Zoro said. Luffy laughed and turned his head towards his firstmate. Zoro was wearing a smirk, but his eyes told Luffy he was still worried about him. They held a quiet statement saying that they didn't really believe that Luffy was this happy, this quick. Not after experiencing something like that.

Luffy's large smile, that was present all throughout breakfast, dropped to a smaller one. He turned his head back to the ocean, and was somehow reminded of last night.

"His food was really good today," was all that Luffy said. And nothing more needed to be said. One out of four cruel prankers had apologized and had been forgiven. Zoro got that and didn't need to question further. Luffy was happy so long as his nakama were happy. Who was Zoro to question it?


	6. Chapter 5

Nami laid out on the front of the deck with Robin in lawn chairs. Each were armed with a book and a glass of lemonade, courtesy of Sanji, but only one was really paying attention to the words on the pages. The red-headed navigator looked worriedly at the pages of her book, trying to get some sort of answer to her qualms to jump out at her. She remembered the scream that came from her captain's mouth. A scream that she promised herself, that she would never let a noise like that leave her captain again. Nami sighed in frustration as she saw Luffy talking to Zoro on the edge of the boat. Both were leaning over the rails, but not once did Nami worry for Luffy's safety considering how close he was to the water. An act of God would be the only thing that would ever keep Zoro from saving Luffy from drowning, and even then, it was questionable Zoro wouldn't find a way to get around it.

The wind blew a little harder, causing the boat to rock a little. Luffy fell forward a little, but not nrealy enough to topple overboard. Still, it made Zoro's instincts screamed to grab him and pull him away from the railings. The swordsman settled for just shifting his body closer to his captain, in case the boat rocked him a little too hard next time.

Nami saw the lazy firstmate shift closer to Luffy after the wave hit. She smiled for a second, watching their friendship, before frowning at Zoro's threat yesterday. The navigator wondered if the conversation with Luffy instigated the threat, or if Zoro would have said the same thing without talking to Luffy first. He probably would have threatened us all the same, the navigator mused. Which, led her mind back to her previous problem. How was she going to apologize to her captain? Sanji was obviously forgiven already. The copious amounts of food given to their captain this morning was the most obvious attempt at apologizing so far. Nami seriously doubted that Chopper or Usopp had said sorry already. She vaguely wondered what they were doing to say sorry. The navigator figured she could probably let Luffy have a few extra coins on their next trip in town today, but she had a feeling their captain would want more than that. He would be able to tell immediately that she took the easy way out of apologizing.

Nami sighed. This was harder than she thought it would be.

"Perhaps you do not think about what you need to give Luffy to apologize," Robin suddenly stated. The archaeologist smiled mysteriously at Nami's bewildered expression. The statement came out of nowhere for the history buff, but was dead-on to Nami's thoughts. "The best form apology, sometimes, is what you keep from the person you are apologizing too."

Nami stared at the older woman, who hadn't even spared a glance from the book she was reading. "Wha? How did you…?" Nami asked. Robin turned her page, clearly interested in the book. "You've been staring at Sencho-san for the last ten minutes with a troubled expression. And, I doubt the information in your book is very valuable upside down."

Nami looked down at her book and noticed that it was upside down. The navigators mind instantly gave up on figuring out the older woman. That was a lost cause in itself. Instead, Nami thought about the words Robin said.

'What I keep from the person I am apologizing too?' Nami thought, 'What exactly do I keep from Luffy?' Nami put her head back on the chair in frustration. She watched the clouds for a moment and listened to the sounds of the ship. It was a quiet day considering the two of the three youngest members were currently trying to figure out a way to say sorry to Luffy, while the reason for the constant noise on the ship was quietly talking to Zoro. The only thing you could hear was the quiet mumbles between the captain and the first mate, and the leaves of the mikan trees rustling in the wind.

Nami stared at the sky for another second before registering something. Mikans! That's it! She could let Luffy have one of the most sacred things on this ship. No one was ever allowed one Bellemere's mikans! Nami smiled at the archaeologist, who was currently enraptured (or so she guessed, at least. You could never quite tell what Robin was up too) in her book. She silently thanked the older woman before turning her book upright.

'Now,' thought the navigator. 'All I have to do is get Zoro away from Luffy.'

"Zoro, Sanji says you're dish duty." Nami said. The two crewmates looked up from their spots on the railings to acknowledge their navigator. Zoro almost spat back an insult about what the ero-cook could really do with those dishes, but one look to the navigator promised a whole in his wallet the size of the East Blue if he said one word protest. Instead, the swordsman grumbled something about taking a nap before stalking off towards the kitchen. He knew that it was Nami's time to apologize to Luffy and obviously she didn't want an audience.

Nami watched Zoro walk around the corner before turning back to Luffy. The captain had turned his head back towards the ocean, not in an attempt to push her away, but in a silent invitation to take Zoro's spot next to him. Nami gladly accepted, stepping up to the railing and leaning over it with the mikan in her hands. A comfortable silence washed over them. Only the waves rushing against Merry could be heard. One wave rocked the boat a little harder than expected and Nami almost dropped her mikan in the vast blue if not for a rubbery arm for catching it. Luffy snapped his arm back slowly from the side of the Merry and dropped the mikan in Nami's accepting hands. He watched as his navigator put on a small smile and examined the small fruit in her hands.

"Were you scared yesterday?" Nami asked. It was obvious about what she was referring too. She watched as Luffy tensed as soon as the words left her mouth. His small smile transformed into a frown as he thought about the blood, fake or not, on the navigator. Luffy couldn't help but think about how crippling the fear and despair was. All he could think about was how his friends, his family, was hurt while he was not there to protect them.

"Yeah, I was."

Nami stared at the rubberboy, silently wondering what else could scare him like. In the back of her mind her conscious whispered, "His crew members actually dying." Guilt washed over her once again.

"I should of known better than to prank you like that, Luffy. It was an extrememly cruel prank to do to someone who loves their crew as much as you do, and really to anyone," Nami said. Luffy made no move of acknowledgement, so Nami grabbed his hand and placed the small, orange fruit in it. The captain's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the young woman before him. All he saw was apologetic, brown eyes. The captain smiled and relaxed as he peeled back the fruit. Both of them let the distinct, citrusy smell wash over them for a moment. Then, the captain split the fruit in half, giving one half to the navigator. Nami accepted it with a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Luffy," she said.

"You're always forgiven, Nami," he answered. The two of them watched the ocean for another moment, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere on the ship. That is, until a loud crash, and then glass breaking was heard.

"Nice going, shitty swordsmans! How can you hold a sword when you can't even hold a glass?" "Sanji seethed.

"It was your fault for making the glass too wet!" Zoro shouted.

"Marimo-head!"

"Curly-brows!"

Nami put her fingers to her temples as the sounds of swords and expensive shoes colliding filled her once peaceful atmosphere. She growled, "Those damn idiots better not fucking break anything or I'll hang them from our mast."

Luffy laughed as his navigator stormed off to the kitchen, most likely to beat common sense into his crewmates. He turned to the ocean and watched the waves and let the loud shouts blend into the day.

Nami let her eyebrow tick for a second as she stood above two, pouting males with large bumps on their heads.

"Clean this mess up before I increase your debt so much, your grandkids will still be paying me!" Nami shouted. She stormed out of the kitchen and sighed. At least she was able to apologize before the ship broke out in it's normal mayhem again. The navigator looked at the oncoming clouds before smiling. At least her captain forgave her.

It was kinda a silly ending, but I couldn't really find the right way to end. Ah well. It's a new chapter! Just three or four more to go! A new one, guaranteed next week! Please Read and Review!


	7. Chapter 6

I had some time on me to update, so here it goes! **REVIEW!** It is not that hard to click the review button and say a word or two! Anywho, this chapter came to me earlier than what I thought. I also took time to add in a few thousand extra words than the last two chapters. Your welcome.

Chopper had an idea on how to apologize to Luffy. He just didn't have the right materials, the right colors; he didn't even know what to say! The Zoan dropped the rumble balls he was mindlessly working on and put his hooves to his face. What if Luffy didn't forgive him? What if his captain decided to kick him off the ship for not having a suitable apology? Tears welled up in the youngest crewmember's eyes and he couldn't help the small sniffle that followed.

"Something wrong Doctor-san?" a voice called from the door. Chopper squeaked in surprised and hurriedly rubbed his face free of tears. He turned to the archaeologist.

"N-no, Robin," Chopper said. "Everything's fine!"

The older woman watched as watery, red eyes, a sniffling nose, and a smile that looked more like a grimace greeted her. For a moment, the archeologist wondered if she should change her title to the ship's psychologist; the ship certainly needed one. Pushing the thought from her mind, the older woman walked the room to step in front of the reindeer and bent down to meet him at eye-level.

Chopper sighed. He knew it was wishful thinking to fool the older woman. Luffy and Usopp told him this theory once that Robin just knew everything. Perhaps, that was true.

"Now, Doctor-san, why don't you really tell me what is on your mind?" Robin asked warmly. Chopper looked up from the floor and saw wise, blue eyes staring at him. Maybe she could help, he thought. She does know everything!

"What if Luffy doesn't forgive me?" the Zoan asked. He nervously put his hooves together and started twirling them anxiously. "What if my apology isn't good enough and he kicks me off the ship? I don't know what to do then! They'll kick me off to this island and I'll never be able to leave because I'm too scared to go to the ocean alone! I won't be able to make friends because I'll miss everyone here too much!"

Tears were flowing freely down the Zoan's face as he described his worst fears to Robin. The archaeologist propped her face on her hand, with her elbow resting on her knee. She waited patiently for Chopper to get the worst of his sobs over, while petting his back softly, before commenting.

"Now, Doctor-san," she said. "Do you really think our Captain would ever kick anyone off the ship?" Chopper blinked wet eyes at her and shook his head. The older woman stood up and grabbed a tissue, handing it to Chopper as she kneeled down in front of him. The Zoan blew his nose loudly, letting his fear of being kicked off the ship go into the tissue.

"If you really are worried about the quality of your apology, I can help you. But, I doubt Luffy-san would ever turn down a crewmember for forgiveness."

"Really!" Chopper exclaimed. "Thank you, Robin! I have an idea as to what to do for the apology, but I have no idea what to say, or what colors to use." The Zoan paused for a second thoughtfully. He turned his now dry eyes up to Robin.

"Do you think Nami will let me use her paper?" he asked. Robin smiled and said simply, "What is it you need?"

Later

"Okay, guys. Here is everyone's portion of belli for the day," Nami said while handing out small bags of coins to each member on the ship. "Now, get what I told you to and the rest is for whatever you want to get. That trip to Skypeia really helped us along. But, keep in mind that that's all you're getting for a while!"

Nami stopped in front of Chopper and kneeled down to his level. The Zoan took the pouch of money gratefully from the navigator and felt the weight in his hooves.

"Chopper, I put a little extra in there for you. Robin talked to me earlier," she whispered. Chopper dropped his jaw in surprise.

"Whaa! Nami, you're being generous?" he asked. The younger woman smiled and winked at Chopper while offhandedly saying, "Yeah, yeah. You can pay me back with interest later."

Chopper immediately put his head down and sighed. He should have known better from Nami.

'Still', he thought. 'Better I have it now.' The young doctor looked up at Robin, who smiled down at him.

"Ready to go get our things, Doctor-san?" she asked. Chopper smiled, saying, "Yup!"

"Alright! Groups are Zoro, Luffy, and myself, Sanji and Usopp, and Robin and Chopper. Be back before sunset!"

Everyone yelled an agreement before all rushing off to the city. Robin and Chopper followed in suit. They walked a few minutes into the small trading area of the town. It was a busy port with a small town atmosphere. People bussled around everywhere with Vendors shouting random sales. The duo walked around for a a minute before stopping at a creative shop with paintbrushes as the sign. Chopper assumed it was an artists shop.

"Is this where I can get my items, Robin?" the timid deer asked. He looked around nervously, already feeling people staring at him. The Zoan took on his deer point, hoping to not cause too much attention to himself. Robin looked down at Chopper and nodded, pulling the reindeer inside.

Choppers sensitive nose was immediately assaulted with a variety of smells. Musty papers, acrylic paints, and other items he couldn't verify. He looked around in the cluttered room, noting how much stuff was in here in proportion to how small the store really was. Random things, it seemed like, were placed on a variety of shelves that looked like they would fall any moment.

'Usopp would really like this place,' Chopper thought. Robin directed her hands towards one shelf that held beautiful paints on them. The doctor took notice on the wide variety of colors. Next to the paints, crisp, white paper like laid perfectly aligned on each other. Probably the straightest, and neatly aligned thing in the entire store.

"Robin, this is what I need!" Chopper exclaimed. Robin quickly picked up a few pieces of paper and Chopper pointed out which paints he needed.

"Hullo! Hullo! What do we have 'ere?" an elderly voice shouted. The two crewmates looked behind them towards an askew lady with wild, graying hair. She had on boggle glasses that magnified her gray eyes by tenfold.

"We were looking for some paints and paper to put on a card, I see we found what it is we were searching for, though," Robin said. The lady smiled and nodded her head vigoursly.

"Oh, did you's now? Good, Good! I can check you out if you need to be headin' out. I heard them pirates be in port today, and some of them can get pretty out of hand!" the owner said. Robin and Chopper smiled politely, handing her the paints and paper for her to bag.

"Are pirates a big concern on this island?" Robin asked politely, handing her the money Chopper was given from Nami. The lady laughed a high pitched , but hearty laugh.

"No, not on this island. We usually get a few pirates a week that think they can plunder and ravage the place, but we've got ourselves a class A sheriff. He puts them pirates exactly where the Navy wants them!"

Chopper frowned, but Robin kept a cool face. "A class A sheriff?"

"Oh yeah," the shopowner answered. "He's eaten some of that Angel's fruit, or something, and he keeps them rascal pirates at bay! Never have we had a problem since!"

"Oh, you mean the Devil's Fruit. Well, it's nice to know that we are so protected being here. Thank you for your time," the archeaologist said. The crazy lady smiled and waved them goodbye as they exited out the store.

"Do you think Luffy and Zoro would get in trouble?" the young doctor asked. He still hadn't had the chance to apologize and it would be terrible if Luffy got hurt before he had the chance.

"I hope not, Doctor-san. Nami had said something earlier about a storm coming in from the West. We would need to set sail into the storm if trouble was caused here."

"Oh, but Nami is with them, " Chopper said. He smiled in relief. What trouble could those two possibly get into if their strict navigator was with them?

Meanwhile…

"HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT, LUFFY!" Nami screamed. The Captain, the swordsman, and the navigator were sprinting down the cobblestreets of the main part of town with an angry mob of people and marines running after them.

"I didn't mean to! I told you I lost you in the crowd because I got distracted by something shiny, " Luffy defended. Nami growled, "Well then explain to me, WHY YOU KNOCKED DOWN THREE BUILDINGS, FOUR VENDOR'S STALLS, AND A MARINE BOAT!"

Zoro looked queerly at his captain for a moment before sighing. Only Luffy. Luffy, on the other hand, looked positively offended at Nami for asking such a question.

"Well, after I lost you I figured I could climb the tallest building and search for you up there since it would give me a better chance of finding you. So, I rocketed myself to the nearest building and accidently flew through the building knocking it down, taking out the three vending stalls with it. That was when the people started chasing after me and I flung myself to another building, but also overshot it taking down the other tower that was attached to it. Then the marines found me and started to attack so I rocketed myself in a random direction to escape, but wound up flinging myself into the sea. So, to stop myself from hitting the water, I grabbed onto the nearest boat, which accidently was a marine's boat. I fought some marines there and I'm not sure how, but the boat started to sink. I think it 'cause I accidently shot my foot through the hull," Luffy said. Both Zoro and Nami stared at him incredulously for a moment. Only Luffy would be able to accidently cause massive mayhem.

"Did nobody teach you as a child to stay in one place when you get lost?" the navigator asked. All three of them turned a corner into an alley, while running, and watched the mob pass them by.

"I think Ace tried to tell me this once in the ravine, but I don't remember," the rubberman replied. Nami facepalmed for a moment, while catching her breath. Why did she bother to keep the two idiots out of trouble today? Knowing Luffy, she shouldn't of even tried.

"Honestly, Luffy. This is ridiculous!" Nami exclaimed.

"Lay off, he said it was on accident," Zoro dryly said. Nami responded with a fist to the head. The swordsman glared before the expert thief threatened a worsened debt.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a male voice asked. The three strawhats straightened up quickly to look at a young man staring down at them from the top of the alley. Luffy turned to the man and observed how wore a sheriff's star on his shirt. The sheriff levitated to the ground in front of them. Zoro put his thumb on his swords, while Nami grabbed her climtact. Only Luffy seemed to relax for a moment.

"Are you the strawhat pirates the marines are screaming about?" he asked. Luffy grinned and laughed.

"Yeah, probably. I might've caused a little damage. It was on accident though," the young Captain laughed. Nami quickly bashed the rubberman in the head.

"Ow, Nami! What was that for?"

"It was for saying it was on accident!" the navigator growled, with a twitch in her eye. Luffy frowned and rubbed his head.

"That's because it was on accident! I told you I didn't mean any of it!" Luffy pouted, facing the young navigator.

"Well, then it was for causing major damage to the city! I didn't hit you earlier for that!" Nami responded. Luffy slacked his jaw open before puffing his cheeks out.

"No fair, Nami," he argued. "You can't hit me for something that was already over and done with!"

"I DO IT ALL THE TIME!"

The sheriff and Zoro watched with deadpanned expressions as the two crewmates argued back and forth. It took a minute, and another bump on the head, for the two to calm down.

"Uhh, as I was saying," the sheriff started. He wasn't used to criminals ignoring him or interrupting his spiels. "So, it was you that caused all that damage-"

"On accident," Luffy interrupted. The two bumps on his head still visible. The sheriff sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with this.

"Regardless! You caused damage and now you must pay for it. I hear the marines have been wanting you especially."

Luffy put his strawhat on his head and Nami straightened out. With a wicked grin the rubberman laughed, "I'm sorry to inform you, but I can't do that. You see, if the marines catch me, I can't become Pirate King."

The three pirates darted out of the way as a blast of heat shot out at them, making the cobblestone they stood burn like wood. Nami stared at the burning stone with wide eyes.

"What kind of Devil Fruit is that?" she asked. The sheriff laughed. " My name is Sheriff Boone and I ate the Burn-Burn fruit which causes everything I touch to burn like wood. I use the heat to levitate me in the air, so that I can fly."

Zoro dove at the man, with all three swords out, making Boone jump away from the center of the group. He, in turn, sent a wave of heat towards Zoro. The swordsman easily evaded, but the blast of heat burned through the wall of the building.

"No fair!" Luffy shouted. "You caused damage too!"

Boone glared at the rubberman, but quickly dodged the first thrown his way. Luffy didn't hesitate to bring his foot up to Boone, suprising him with a kick to the face. Though, the strawhat pirate quickly retracted his foot shouting in pain.

"Gyah! You burned me!" the rubberman shouted. Boone took on a wicked smile.

"Why of course, my entire body is encompassed in the heat. You touch me, I burn you. It's a lose-lose situation that you're in. Why do you think I'm sheriff of this town? I'm untouchable," he said cooly.

Nami brewed up a short rainfall while the two were fighting. The clouds gathered over the unsuspecting sheriff. She knew that they needed to escape the small alley, less they destroy the buildings around them.

"Thunderstorm Tempo!" she yelled. The sheriff barely had the chance to shout before a torrent of rain collapsed on him. "Zoro! Luffy!" Nami called. "Let's get out of this space!"

The three pirates didn't hesitate to run from the small alley to the center of the town. Using the small distraction as a chance to get away, they started to run towards the ship. They didn't make it too far before they heard the shouts of Boone behind them.

"You damn pirates! Get back here!" he yelled. Luffy twisted his neck to face the flying sheriff just to stick out his tongue at the young man.

Boone started shooting blasts of heat at the runaway pirates, leaving burning craters in their wake. People shouted around them, barely escaping themselves. A stray blast blew up a fruit vendor's stall.

"Luffy," Nami said while running. "We need to knock him out or something. He's destroying the place and might hurt somebody!"

"I'll take care of it," Zoro said. The swordsman stopped to face the flying sheriff, putting Wado in his mouth. "You two can find the others."

Nami and Luffy nodded running in what they were hoping to the right direction to the other crewmates. Zoro didn't turn to watch them leave.

"So your crewmates ditched you did they?" the sheriff asked. He levitated down to the ground, facing the bandana-wearing man.

"Tch," Zoro replied casually. "They knew that you were too weak to need three people to fight with."

The sheriff gaped at Zoro, "Why you little shit!"


	8. Chapter 7

Hey guys! I'm back. Sorry it took me like a year to update, but I had a lot going on in my house which included massive fire, separation of parents, re-getting back together, three jobs, full-time student, and being really sick for a few months. I'm going to be updating weekly, bi-weekly at most. :D Please Read and Review. It really helps me out and inspires me to write. So, the more reviews, the quicker the chapters.

Sanji lifted a small, yellow fruit to his nose and smelled it delicately. He glanced at the texture of the fruit, carefully turning it in his hands. His blue eyes examined the fruit a little closer, before noticing a tiny nick near the top of it.

"No good," he said while tossing the fruit with the large pile he also considered no good. Usopp sighed loudly, dragging his hands across his face. The two had been put together for a group and had gone into town for food for the ship. This was the first vendor they had gone too and Sanji was being particularly picky with food. Usopp wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he was sure it was getting close to two hours. The sharpshooter glanced around the market, observing the people milling about. He hadn't failed to notice the marine ship in the harbor, but he wasn't too concerned about being caught with Sanji. Neither had particularly recognizable wanted posters. He also wasn't worried about Robin, or Chopper, both could handle their own and Robin was smart enough to evade marines. Usopp sighed. Luffy and Zoro would probably manage to find trouble, even if they were with Nami.

Brown eyes looked over the crowd before passing a store sign. "Tinker Tools," was all it said, but it was enough to get the sharpshooter interested. Usopp examined Sanji for a moment. The cook was still picking items out and seemed to be weighing two fruits in his hands. The sharpshooter smiled while backing away slowly.

"Well, Sanji, it looks like you won't be needing me since my eyes aren't as good as picking out fruit as yours. I'll just be heading over to this very important store over there, so bye!" Usopp said before turning quickly to run to the store. He got about a foot before a sudden force hit him in the back, causing the liar to fall face-forward into the cobblestone.

"Oi, Sanji! What was that for!" Usopp yelled. He looked up at the cook who casually took a drag of his cigarette.

"Nami-chan specifically put us into groups. I am not going to disobey her by letting you wander off into whatever the hell you want. You're going to stay here," Sanji said with finality. Usopp grumbled from his spot on the ground before picking himself up and dusting dirt off his overalls. Sanji walked back to the vendor to pay for the fruit. Usopp sighed, leaning himself up against a barrel. 

"Alright, let's get to the butcher. Luffy managed to deplete our meat stocks in less than 24 hours." The cook started walking towards a man shouting about meat close to the marine ship. The sharpshooter followed begrudgingly. The thought of Luffy depleting the meat stocks made him think of the ornate meat dinner Sanji made for Luffy. The apology was obvious, and apparently forgiven. Usopp wasn't sure if Nami said anything, and Chopper was asking the sharpshooter about his paints earlier, which was more than likely for an apology for Luffy. He had no idea what to do for the straw-hat wearing captain. Hell, he didn't even know what to say. Usopp thought for a second about ignoring the entire situation entirely, but then images of a very angry swordsman cutting up the sharpshooter made him rethink that decision. Usopp sighed. He decided to focus on what to do for Luffy later.

"Hey! All hands to east of town!" a voice shouted. Usopp glanced curiously to where the voice came from and noticed that a group of marines ran into the center of town. The sharpshooter looked at Sanji, who was weighing meat with the butcher, before moving closer to a different group of marines. He figured that whatever distracted the others, would eventually come for this group.

Sure enough, within a minute, a marine officer jumped off the marine ship and ran to the group of marines shouting.

"We have massive damage to east of the town caused by what is to be presumed, Straw-hat Luffy! We are instructed to capture him and bring him to justice!"

Usopp gulped nervously before sliding away from the government workers.

"Sanji! Sanji! We need to find Luffy and get out of here!" Usopp yelled while grabbing Sanji away from the butcher. The cook yelped before grabbing his bags out of reflex. Usopp dragged Sanji behind a few cargo boxes while double checking to make sure no one was around to see.

"Oi, Usopp! What the hell?" Sanji growled. He wanted to strangle the sharpshooter for dragging him away from a sale, but what he said about Luffy got the cook interested.

"I overheard marines talking about damage caused in the town. They think it's Luffy, so they're running after him to turn him in!" Usopp exclaimed wildly. Sanji sighed. He didn't doubt the truth of the marines. If damage was caused to the city, there was no doubt that the over-eccentric captain had something to do with it.

"Well, I guess we'll take this stuff to the ship and try and find Luffy before the marines do," Sanji said. He tossed the now-cigarette butt to the ground, before grabbing a new one. Grabbing the lighter, he brought it up to his lips, seeing the fire in front of the cigarette. But, just as Sanji was about to in-hale the nicotine he craved, a massive crash into the marine ship behind them caused the chef to drop the cigarette from his mouth. Both crewmates turned around and gaped at the dust and woodchips flying off the marine ship. Marines were running around shouting, and shots were heard. Usopp and Sanji looked at each other before staring back at the ship. Suddenly a long, over extended foot shot out of the hull, causing the ship to take in water.

"Well, I think we found our shitty captain," Sanji said. He sighed, picking up the cigarette off the ground. Never waste a perfectly good cigarette.

"Is there ever a town he doesn't get in trouble in?" Usopp asked. Sanji shook his head and grabbed the food before taking off to the marine ship ahead of them.

"Come on, let's grab the rubber idiot before he causes more damage," Sanji said. But, before they could take another step, Luffy rocketed himself back towards the center of the town. Marines followed in suit, running after the boy. Sanji sighed and together he and Usopp ran after the rubber captain.

"Do you think we should grab Robin and Chopper, Sanji?" Usopp panted out. The two ran around a corner, dodging citizens as they went.

"No, as much as it hurts me to not be ever-vigilant by Robin-swan, she and Chopper can handle themselves."

Usopp nodded, noticing the small change in Sanji's speed. He may have said that Robin could take care of herself, but his subconscious still wanted to find Luffy faster in order to make the situation safer for her.

"Where do you think Nami and Zoro were? Weren't they with Luffy?" the sharpshooter questioned. Come to think of it, neither were even close to the rubber captain.

"I don't know, but that probably means Luffy already dragged them in-Woah!" Sanji stopped mid-sentence as a ball of heat drove past them into the cobblestone street, making it burn like wood.

"What the hell was that?" Sanji yelled. Both skidded to a halt and looked around for where the shot came from.

Then, they saw Zoro fighting a floating man in a sheriff's uniform, who was shooting balls of heat at the swordsman.

"Roronoa Zoro," the sheriff yelled. "You will not beat my Devil Fruit!"

Zoro dodged an attack before sending an attack back to the sheriff. Boone easily flew out of the way.

"Oi, moss-head! Where are Nami and Luffy and who the hell is this guy?"

Zoro glanced back at the two crewmates before rolling out of the way of another attack. "Don't worry about this shithead. Nami and Luffy ran ahead. Find them and get to the ship. I'll take care of this guy!"


End file.
